Chemicals are commonly used in a myriad of applications to control pests and disease. Chemical agents are also used to apply fertilizer to landscape plants, gardens, and crops. Chemical pesticides rid dwellings and open areas from potentially damaging and annoying pests such as ants, roaches, scorpions, crickets, termites, mites, tics, and other insects. These insects are known to spread disease, destroy vegetation, invade dwellings, infest food supplies, sting or bite people, and bother pets. Chemical herbicides are useful to rid lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds from unsightly weeds. Chemical fertilizers provide vital nutrients to plants of all varieties.
There exist a number of methods and apparatus, which are used to apply or dispense chemical mixtures. Inside dwellings, chemicals have been applied with aerosol cans, hand-pump sprayers, back-pack sprayers, and other mobile pressurized containers. It is known to install fixed chemical distribution systems inside the walls and foundation of structures for subterranean pests, e.g., termites. As for open areas, such as yards, gardens, greenbelts, parks, and fields, the chemical pesticides are typically applied from back-pack sprayers or pumped from a truck and applied using a pressurized hose. A volume of chemical mixture is held in a storage tank on the truck. The hose is reeled from the back of the truck. The storage tank is pressurized to force the chemical solution through the hose. The operator drags the hose around from place to place and hopefully sprays the chemical pesticide in the proper concentration to the necessary locations to rid the open areas of unwanted pests.
For exterior application, hand-held sprayers and back-pack sprayers hold relatively small amounts of chemical mixture and require significant time to cover large areas. Moreover, it is easy to get uneven or inconsistent application and coverage with portable sprays and even entirely miss certain areas through misjudgment or neglect. Some areas are hard to get to with manual sprayers. Using the pressurized hose method delivers more chemical per unit time and generally receives a much greater volume of available mixture from the storage tank. However, the power hose has its own drawbacks. There is set-up time to inspect the application area, pressurize the tank, and deploy the hose. The hose is heavy and requires substantial effort to drag around. In warm climates, the heat is a real problem when performing such hard physical labor. Dragging the hose in and around buildings, corners, trees, plants, furniture, fountains, pools, and other outside structures can cause damage to the hose as well as the yard. Plants get uprooted, furniture gets knocked over, gravel gets displaced, hose contacts pool water, and owners get annoyed. The use of pressurized hoses is still no assurance of consistent and even application of the chemical, either because certain areas are inaccessible or through improper application. Some areas are under-sprayed and some areas are over-sprayed. Constant exposure to and breathing of the chemical spray and mist can be harmful to the long-term health of the operator. The use of power hoses still involves entering the application area and possibly having to deal with hostile dogs.
A need exists for a more convenient and efficient means of applying chemical agents to outside open areas.